| Author |
Topic: Chandler Musical Instruments |
Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
|
Posted 15 Apr 2008 11:12 pm |
|
I think that Chandlers are the most underrated steels around. My RH-2 is the most playable electric steel I have ever put hands on. And it has an excellent vintage sound. It is a 23" scale with 7/16" string spacing at the bridge and 5/16" at the nut. It is compact and easy to carry around. I'm planning on buying a studio 6. Anyone have any experience with the studio 6? Anyone have any ideas as to how these excellent guitars can have gotten so little notice from members of the forum for so long?
_________________
Amor vincit omnia |
|
|
 |
Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
|
Posted 16 Apr 2008 5:50 am I had one...
|
|
I had an RH-4 (the 'fancy' one with the chambers inside). It had the fancy koa, too. Beautiful to look at, but not that great of tone, IMO. Paul Chandler told me that he, too, thought it wasn't as good sounding as the solid body, which was why they stopped making them. I did like the scale and string spacing on it, however.
I've never heard the regular solid body models, but I've heard good things, as you've related.
Can you post a clip, or do you know of a clip online somewhere?
Thanks.
TJW |
|
|
|
Vince Luke
From:
Iowa, USA
|
Posted 16 Apr 2008 7:48 am
|
|
I had a Studio 6. I'm surprised there aren't more around, but then again they aren't available at retailers like the RH-2 is. I usually prefer to play acoustically but wanted an electric steel, too. The Studio 6 was appealing because the 3-way switchable pickup offered the possibility of a wider choice of tonal options in one steel. While I had it it seemed like a quality instrument overall. I only got rid of it because I got a too-good-to-pass-up deal on a Lap King Flame Top Rodeo, which is pretty much the ideal electric steel for both my visual and musical (playing) tastes.
Vince |
|
|
|
Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
|
Posted 16 Apr 2008 9:31 am
|
|
I have insufficient technology and knowledge to post a clip right now. If and when I get the opportunity I plan to post a clip on the woulnd't this be fun thread. I have a fun little version of that tune worked out.
_________________
Amor vincit omnia |
|
|
|
Jude Reinhardt
From:
Weaverville, NC
|
Posted 16 Apr 2008 10:29 pm
|
|
I'm the happy owner of Vince Luke's wine red Studio 6 and just bought a natural RH-2. I've found that the center position (true single coil tone) of the selector switch on the Studio 6 is the one I use the most. It's nice having of option of switching from single coil to humbucker though.
The frets and position markers are etched on the underside of clear plexiglass, which lays on top of the MOTS so it you want you can sandwich a piece of light colored craft paper between the two and have the finger board color of your choice. I keep thinking a piece of maple veneer would be nice.
Jude
_________________
"If we live in fear of banjos, then the banjos have won".
"Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have Peanut Butter". - Kruger Bear |
|
|
|
Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
|
|
|
|
Jude Reinhardt
From:
Weaverville, NC
|
Posted 17 Apr 2008 10:40 am
|
|
| Mark Mansueto wrote: |
| Jude, what's the difference between the RH2 and Studio 6? Is the Studio 6 worth the extra cost? They look identical except for the switch so I'm guessing that the Studio 6 sounds better? |
Three position toggle switch offers the following sounds:
Position 1
Parallel humcancelling mode. This setting offers the bright, clean tone of a single coil pickup, but with silent opertion. This is similar to the "bottleneck" sound of a Fender style pickup.
Position 2
True single coil mode. This setting gives the genuine single coil tone. It has the brightness and zing of our original single coils, but, as with any single coil, it has the 60hz hum that goes along with that great sound. This works great for live performance to get a gritty, organic sound, but may be too noisy for studio application.
Position 3
Series humcancelling mode. This setting offers the most powerful and harmonically rich tone with silent operation. This sound will create a fat dense sound that will cut through and will drive your amp into rich, smooth distortion easily.
The above was copied from the literature that came with the Studio 6.
I prefer the the middle position played when through a Fender Pro Jr. tube amp.
Here are a couple of pictures showing the single coil RH-2 pickup and the double coil Studio 6 pickup.
Jude
_________________
"If we live in fear of banjos, then the banjos have won".
"Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have Peanut Butter". - Kruger Bear |
|
|
|
Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
|
Posted 17 Apr 2008 11:10 pm
|
|
My understanding is that the studio 6 has higher quality tuners and other hardware. Is that not correct?
And if you will please excuse my ignorance, many of the great steel guitar players recorded with single coil pickups. Sol Ho'opi'i, Jerry Byrd, Leon McAulliffe, Herb Remington, Joaquin Murphey.....etc. Am I not right? One of the recording studios I'm in touch with has on their equipment list a Gibson BR-9. Does this not have a single coil pickup? I find the Chandler single coil to be remarkably quiet as matter of fact. But what is the problem in recording with single coil pickups?
_________________
Amor vincit omnia |
|
|
|
Jude Reinhardt
From:
Weaverville, NC
|
Posted 18 Apr 2008 12:35 am
|
|
Both the Studio 6 and RH-2 have Kluson style tuners. The Studio 6 has individual tuners with metal buttons and the RH-2 has three-on a plate with plastic buttons. The nut and bridge is the same on both. I replaced the plastic tone and volume knobs with knurled metal telecaster type on both of my guitars. I prefer the single coil sound myself and both of the pickups on my guitars are very quiet at the volume I use.
Jude
_________________
"If we live in fear of banjos, then the banjos have won".
"Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have Peanut Butter". - Kruger Bear |
|
|
|
Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
|
Posted 18 Apr 2008 4:09 am
|
|
Edward, my '59 BR-9 has a P90 and it has typical single coil buzz, and like most others I love the tone so I put up with the noise. Played clean it's no big deal but most of the time I run it through a high gain amp so it is a big deal then.
Jude, thanks for the excellent info. Couple more questions:
Are the control cavities on either of those guitars shielded?
Is the true single coil setting of the Studio 6 comparable to the RH2?
_________________
https://markmansueto.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/65dQ3EyZC2RaqawA8gPlRy?si=dOdqc5zxSKeJI9cISVVx_A |
|
|
|
Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
|
Posted 18 Apr 2008 4:47 am CC pickups
|
|
I can say from my experience that the tone of those Chandler "CC" style p'ups is very nice. I didn't care for the tone of the guitar itself that I had (chambered body RH-4), but the p'up sounded nice. I almost sent it to Chandler to open it up, and fill in the chambers to restore some of the mid-range tone to it, but the expense to do that wasn't worth it in the end to me. It sure was a gorgeous guitar, though.
I'm curious to hear the Studio 6. May have to try to find one to try out locally.
TJW
_________________
Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, E13, A6); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Custom-made 25" aluminum cast "fry pan" with vintage Ricky p'up (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); 1953 Oahu Tonemaster; assorted ukuleles; upright bass |
|
|
|
Jude Reinhardt
From:
Weaverville, NC
|
Posted 18 Apr 2008 5:07 am More pictures
|
|
Edward, here's a pic of the tuners.
Mark, the Studio 6 has shielding on the bottome of the cavitiy and on the inside of the cavity cover but there's no shielding on the sides of the cavity. The RH-2 has no shielding at all.
Position 2 is my favorite setting and I would say it sounds like the RH-2 single coil. My own opinion of course, your ears are younger and better I'm sure.
BTW- Position 1 is towards the head stock, Position 2 is in the middle and Position 3 is what's left.
Jude
_________________
"If we live in fear of banjos, then the banjos have won".
"Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have Peanut Butter". - Kruger Bear |
|
|
|
Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
|
Posted 18 Apr 2008 8:45 am
|
|
Thanks for the info, y'all.  I do usually prefer the sound of the humbucking pup on my Remington S8. But the Chandler's playability and portability make it the guitar I grab most often these days. Add to that the fact that over 90% of my playing is on my middle 6 strings and I end up with a situation where I'm only using the Remington when I really need to. Most listeners say that they sound different from each other but that one does not sound better than the other. I think I do see a Studio 6 in my near future. The best of both worlds.
_________________
Amor vincit omnia |
|
|
|
Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
|
Posted 20 Apr 2008 9:11 am
|
|
Jude, thanks for posting the pictures.
So the big difference between the S6 and the RH2 is that one has a single coil pickup and the other has a humbucker with a mini switch. In addition, the S6 has a partially shielded control cavity and upgraded tuners.
I know that my local G-Center usually has RH2's in stock so I really should go down and plug one in check it out. If it turns out that I really like the tone of the RH2 I probably won't spend the extra coin on a S6 that I can't try first. Since the pickup is not a standard shape I don't think you can swap it for an aftermarket model like most other guitars... correct me if I'm wrong about that.
I'm really considering a Chandler, I love the Weiss inspired body shape more than ANY other electric I've ever seen. I'm not crazy about the fretboard but that can be changed easy enough.
_________________
https://markmansueto.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/65dQ3EyZC2RaqawA8gPlRy?si=dOdqc5zxSKeJI9cISVVx_A |
|
|
|
Jude Reinhardt
From:
Weaverville, NC
|
Posted 20 Apr 2008 12:54 pm Pickup pictures
|
|
It would be easy to install a P-90 soap bar pickup in place of the Chandler one. It's just about the same width and length. Some clearance holes would have to be drilled in the bottom of the cavity for the ends of the pole pieces. As you can see the cavity is very shallow, only about 1/8". I bought some coil springs to place under the height adjustment screws as the foam that Chandlet uses becomes compressed over time. I got the from Stew-Mac but a ball point pen spring cut in half will also work. It help keeps the pickup from being wobbly. A P-90 would problably just set on the bottom of the cavity though. The P-90 looks larger because it's closer to the camera in the first picture. The pointy top plate of the Chandler pickup is longer but the body of the pickups are basically the same.
Jude
_________________
"If we live in fear of banjos, then the banjos have won".
"Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have Peanut Butter". - Kruger Bear |
|
|
|
Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
|
|
|
|
